The Indian wolf (Canis lupus pallipes) is a gray wolf subspecies inhabiting South and south-western Asia.
Some experts have suggested at least some C. lupus pallipes populations be re-classified a canid species distinct from C. lupus. Other experts believe it may be the wolf subspecies from which the domestic dog evolved, pointing to its small size and comparatively docile behaviour, although they are also known man-eaters. While their populations are stable or increasing in some countries, in others they may be endangered. C. l. pallipes has been featured in different roles in different west Asian cultures; treated as vermin or menace in some times and places, respected and protected in others.
Read more about Indian Wolf: Characteristics, Distribution and Habitat, Ecology and Behaviour, Population, Taxonomic History
Famous quotes containing the words indian and/or wolf:
“No contact with savage Indian tribes has ever daunted me more than the morning I spent with an old lady swathed in woolies who compared herself to a rotten herring encased in a block of ice.”
—Claude Lévi-Strauss (b. 1908)
“Return to her? and fifty men dismissed?
No, rather I abjure all roofs, and choose
To wage against the enmity o’ th’ air,
To be a comrade with the wolf and owl—
Necessity’s sharp pinch.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)